Three people walk down a street Monday where homes were destroyed by a tornado that hit Washington, Ill., on Sunday. The National Weather Service says the tornado had a preliminary rating of EF4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.

When a cluster of violent thunderstorms began marching across the Midwest, forecasters were able to draw a bright line on a map showing where the worst of the weather would go. Their uncannily accurate predictions — combined with television and radio warnings, text-message alerts and storm sirens — almost certainly saved lives as rare late-season tornadoes dropped out of a dark autumn sky. Although the storms howled through 12 states and flattened entire neighborhoods within a matter of minutes, the number of dead stood at just eight.

By Monday, another, more prosaic reason for the relatively low death toll also came to light: In the hardest-hit town, most families were in church.

“I don’t think we had one church damaged,” said Gary Manier, mayor of Washington, Ill., a community of 16,000 about 140 miles southwest of Chicago.

The tornado cut a path about one-eighth of a mile wide from one side of Washington to the other and damaged or destroyed as many as 500 homes. The heavy weather also battered parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and western New York.

Back in Washington, Daniel Bennett was officiating Sunday services before 600 to 700 people when he heard an electronic warning tone. Then another. And another.

“I’d say probably two dozen phones started going off in the service, and everybody started looking down,” he said.

What they saw was a text message from the National Weather Service cautioning that a twister was in the area. Bennett stopped the service and ushered everyone to a safe place until the threat passed. A day later, many townspeople said those messages helped minimize deaths and injuries.

“That’s got to be connected,” Bennett said. “The ability to get instant information.”

Despite Sunday’s destruction, 2013 has been a relatively mild year for twisters in the U.S., with the number of twisters running at or near record lows.

So far this year, there have been 886 preliminary reports of tornadoes, compared with about 1,400 preliminary reports usually sent to the weather service by mid-November.

State-by-state snapshot

Illinois

Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes flattened neighborhoods, ripped off roofs and toppled trees across the state. At least six people were killed in Illinois, including an elderly man and his sister who died when a tornado struck their farmhouse in rural New Minden, in the southern part of the state, officials said. One of the worst-hit areas was Washington, a town of 16,000 about 140 miles southwest of Chicago, where a tornado razed houses and sent cars flying. The National Weather Service says the tornado had a preliminary rating of EF4, meaning it packed wind speeds of 170 to 190 mph.

Michigan

High winds and rain slammed into the western part of the state, leaving more than 620,000 homes and businesses without power. Two people died in the state.

Heavy winds from storms rolling through Ohio caused damage to buildings and left tens of thousands without power. The National Weather Service confirmed Monday that two tornadoes touched down in the northwest part of the state, although no significant injuries were reported.

Wisconsin

Strong winds knocked out power to thousands in the Milwaukee area, damaged buildings and downed trees in Dodge County, and sent Sunday churchgoers scrambling into church basements for safety.

Kentucky

Tornadoes were spotted in at least eight Kentucky counties, and at least one home had its roof blown off, a spokesman for Kentucky Emergency Management said.

Missouri

Severe storms slammed the eastern part of Missouri, leaving tens of thousands without power mostly in the St. Louis area and destroying a mobile home.

Tennessee

The National Weather Service on Monday confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in middle Tennessee.

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